Summary

This book discusses multiple aspects of Chinese dual language immersion (DLI) programs, with a focus on the controversial Utah model. The first part of the book focuses on the parents, teachers, and school administrators. It looks at the perceptions of the three groups toward the Utah model, how they build a supportive DLI classroom with an emphasis on teacher–teacher and teacher–parent communication, and how the teachers position themselves in teaching through their teacher identities. The second part of the book emphasizes classroom research and explores teaching and learning strategies, corrective feedback and learner uptake and repair, translanguaging in authentic teacher–student interaction, and Chinese-character teaching. As the first DLI book to include a non-alphabetical language, Chinese, it addresses the need for more research on DLI programs of languages other than Spanish. The book will benefit not only Chinese DLI educators and administrators in the US, but will also offer some useful suggestions and thoughts to educators and administrators of similar programs worldwide.

Review:

Bravo to Ko-Yin Sung and Hsiao-Mei Tsai for a book that gives us both a broad analysis of Utah’s Chinese One-Way Immersion programs and the larger context in which they are situated, and an in-depth and fascinating look at Chinese dual language immersion from several important angles. This book makes an important contribution to our understanding of a still very much under-researched phenomenon that is growing in the US, in both importance and numbers.

- Deborah K. Palmer, University of Colorado Boulder, USA

With the ever-increasing heritage language representation in the US, Sung and Tsai present the unique challenges and benefits of implementing an English-Chinese dual language program. Their comprehensive book, building on the English-Spanish dual language scholarship, serves to extend the field and is an outstanding resource for all bilingual educators.

- Belinda Bustos Flores, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA

Author Biography:

Ko-Yin Sung is an Associate Professor in the Department of Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies at Utah State University, USA. Her interests include learner motivation, language learning strategies, Chinese character instruction and technology-assisted language learning.

Hsiao-Mei Tsai is a Chinese teacher in the dual language immersion program in Cache County School District, Utah, USA. Her interests include instruction in dual language programs, language learning strategies and second language acquisition.